Page 37 of Dirty Dillon

I nod, but I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.

As a person who makes a lot of bad decisions, I’m aware that I usually ignore what my gut is telling me right before I make them. It’s not that I don’t have intuition. It’s that I usually ignore it.

My gut is telling me that Blake is more dangerous than I’ve given him credit for. He doesn’t like losing. It’s not that he even cares that much about me. I’m just a pawn to him. The status of a younger woman. The power of forcing a man to give away his daughter. And now, after watching him with Dillon, I’m also a symbol of what he cannot have. He will do whatever it takes to get me.

And I’m terrified.

Chapter Eleven

Dillon

Three weeks later

The air at the garage feels heavy, like an ominous cloud hanging over my head. I pace back and forth, my heart racing in my chest as I check my phone again. Damn it, where could she be? Why won’t she answer her phone?

She’s only a few minutes late, but my gut says there’s trouble. I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I try calling her again, but it goes straight to voicemail.

Maybe Cressida is being bratty on purpose and I’m overreacting. I can’t say that I’ve ever felt so possessive of a woman before. It’s possible she’s playing with me to get a spanking session. Because we both really like those.

But my gut says something different.

I punch in Cherry’s number. “Hey Cherry, have you seen Cressida? Is she still with you?” I ask, my voice wavering with concern.

I’m a Duke. My voice doesn’t fucking waver. Ever.

“We had breakfast together at the diner,” Cherry replies. “After that, she popped into the bookstore while I was opening and then she said she had to get to work. She’s not at the garage yet?”

My mind races with possibilities, each one more terrifying than the last. I can’t shake this growing sense of dread. “No.”

“Maybe she went home first?”

“I’ll check. Thanks.”

It wouldn’t surprise me if she decided her outfit was all wrong for the playlist she wanted to listen to in the office, so she went home to change clothes. My girl is like that.

But that doesn’t explain why she isn’t checking her phone. Cress really likes her phone. She’s especially fond of it since she bought her own plan after her father shut off the one he’d been paying for. Having that independence means a lot to her. She paid for it with money she made working, something she’s never done before.

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